While much of Rapid 2012 centered on manufacturing and part development and analysis, we observed a fair bit of fashion. Here’s what we saw. Among several jewelry items was this amazing bracelet, designed by the Nervous System Design Studio. Speaking of jewelry, we caught a glimpse of this rather elaborate 3D printed ring… Continue reading 3D Printed Fashion at Rapid 2012
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Self Powered 3D Printed Lamp
Designer Margot Krasojevic has developed a very unique piece: a 3D printed light that provides its own power. How does it do that, exactly? The shape of the case is the secret. While it appears to be an attractive lamp, aerodynamically its actually a propeller! It’s mounted on a rotating axis connected to a… Continue reading Self Powered 3D Printed Lamp
Put A Sweater On Your 3D Model
Many 3D models are produced by combining and contorting basic shapes, such as cubes, spheres and cylinders, or by distorting a mesh by pushing and pulling vertices. Highly complex objects are quite possible, but laborious to produce. In other words, they’re rarely attempted by most 3D printer operators. But now there may be a… Continue reading Put A Sweater On Your 3D Model
The Secret Color Process
As much as we’d like to have attended Neri Oxman’s talk at Centre Pompidou in Paris the other day, we were simply unable to get there. However, we were able to view videos and images from the exhibition, sponsored by 3D printer manufacturer Objet. Ms. Oxman produced fantastic and beautiful 3D printed objects inspired… Continue reading The Secret Color Process
Google Sells SketchUp!
Big news! Google has sold off the hugely popular SketchUp 3D modeling tool to Trimble. Wait, who are Trimble, exactly? They’re a “leading provider of advanced location-based solutions that maximize productivity and enhance profitability”. In other words, they leverage GPS and other location tech to develop point products for quite a few different industries. … Continue reading Google Sells SketchUp!
Should You Protect Your 3D Design?
You’ve spent hours to create the perfect 3D model in your favorite 3D tool. Do you own this digital property? Probably, but can you prove it? Exactly. That’s the problem that’s solved by third party intellectual property registration services, such as ProtectRite. They’ll accept (for a fee) your digital file and timestamp it within… Continue reading Should You Protect Your 3D Design?
3D Printing Plastic AND Metal
Whoa – 3D printing plastic AND metal at the same time? There are many kinds of 3D printers in the world these days, most printing only plastic and some able to print metal. But printing both? That’s exactly what a joint initiative between ABS plastic 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys is doing with metal 3D printer… Continue reading 3D Printing Plastic AND Metal
Scream A 3D Print, Literally
A truly amazing installation of what’s called “Production Art” is now open for viewing – and screaming – at Rabobank HQ in Utrecht, Netherlands. Screaming, you ask? That’s exactly what visitors must do when the visit Alicia Framis’ “Screaming Room” exhibition. You scream, the waveform is recorded and translated instantly into a 3D model (a… Continue reading Scream A 3D Print, Literally
Will China Be Harmed By 3D Printing?
Last summer we contemplated the idea that China could be harmed by 3D printing, based on a post in Forbes. The idea was that legions of inexpensive Asian workers who’ve been displacing expensive North American workers would have the tables turned when 3D printing takes hold in North America, permitting consumers to simply print their… Continue reading Will China Be Harmed By 3D Printing?
The 3D Printed Art of Robert Geshlider
Artists have begun leveraging 3D printing technology to produce wondrous creations. This week we encountered an artist who is pushing the technology to its limit by creating perhaps the most amazing 3D printed pieces we’ve ever seen. We contacted California-based Robert Geshlider and asked him a few questions about his work, some of which… Continue reading The 3D Printed Art of Robert Geshlider
3D Print Animated Beings!
It’s fun printing 3D objects with a 3D printer, but typically the problem is they are fixed, unmoving static objects that sit patiently on your desk. What if you could print objects that literally come alive and move around? What if you printed tiny beings that could walk? Sounds ridiculous, we know. But it’s… Continue reading 3D Print Animated Beings!
MakerBot Announces The Replicator
We anticipated some announcement action this week coinciding with the annual Consumer Electronics show and we were definitely not disappointed. Today we find 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot has announced a brand-new personal 3D printer: The Replicator! The replicator appears to be much more capable but also strongly based upon its predecessor the venerable Thing-O-Matic.… Continue reading MakerBot Announces The Replicator
3D Printed Bike
Serious cyclists need their bike to precisely match their body for optimum performance, but how can you do so when bikes are pre-made to someone else’s specifications? The answer is to 3D print a bike to your exact specs. That’s what was done recently by German bike maker Vorwaertz, who use 3D design to prepare… Continue reading 3D Printed Bike
Unfold Imagines Streetside 3D Printing
Several design firms specialize in doing amazing things with 3D printing and one of them is Belgium-based Unfold. Their new concept is streetside 3D printing. What? Yeah, it’s exactly that – a street vendor that prints arbitrary stuff on demand. Not hot dogs, but objects. Possible? Technically yes, but we suspect the clientele… Continue reading Unfold Imagines Streetside 3D Printing
Dozens of MakerBot Jobs!
Popular 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot is hiring. And boy, are they ever! A recent check of their jobs list revealed a startling number of required positions in wildly different roles. It’s almost as if MakerBot suddenly gained a ton of money and started recruiting for every job they felt they needed. But then, that’s exactly… Continue reading Dozens of MakerBot Jobs!
Another 3D Printed ATM Skimmer
This isn’t the first time a crime was committed with 3D printing technology, and it won’t be the last. Curiously, it’s exactly the same kind of crime: ATM skimming! Krebs on Security details the plot, in which perps carefully replaced the “card reader” portion of a California Chase Bank ATM with their own compromised… Continue reading Another 3D Printed ATM Skimmer
Think You Have A Big 3D Printer?
We were contacted by Kalispell, Montana-based The Future Is 3-D after our recent post on build sizes. The post discussed the ultimately not useful statistic of cost per build size. Nevertheless, this small company has been making RepRap Mendel-based 3D printers for over a year and specializes in large build sizes. They’re not kidding, either,… Continue reading Think You Have A Big 3D Printer?
Get a Free Car From Objet!
Objet, one of the major manufacturers of commercial 3D printers, is offering a complete car at no charge. Well, it’s not a *real* car, it’s only a 3D model of one. You can find it at the link below. Objet produced this model to demonstrate the capabilities of their 3D printer line. What are… Continue reading Get a Free Car From Objet!
Sugru Available At MakerBot
You may not have heard of Sugru, but it’s an amazingly useful material now for sale at the MakerBot online store. It’s not something you use in your 3D printer, but it definitely adds a lot to 3D printing. But first, what exactly is it? It’s a secretly formulated air-curing rubber compound sold in… Continue reading Sugru Available At MakerBot
Open Source 3-D Printer Design Competition
Queen’s University and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada are sponsoring a new competition for sustainable development. The competition asks that you “design sustainable technologies and their components for printing on open source 3-D printers”, specifically the RepRap. What exactly is a “sustainable technology”? We’re not sure, because that’s up to… Continue reading Open Source 3-D Printer Design Competition
Wohlers On 3D Printing Futures
At a recent seminar we were able to meet with 3D printing consultant Terry Wohlers. Terry has been a leading 3D printing and additive manufacturing industry consultant and prolific speaker for over 25 years. Each year he publishes the definitive report on the industry, available from his website. We asked his opinion on 3D printing… Continue reading Wohlers On 3D Printing Futures
Up!’s Platform Suit
PP3DP has introduced a possible solution to the scourge of all home 3D printer operators: ABS warping. As most 3D printer operators discover (usually catastrophically) certain shapes and sizes of ABS plastic prints tend to curl as the print proceeds. Usually thin edges are the worst. This problem actually severely limits the size of… Continue reading Up!’s Platform Suit
Foodsafe 3D Printing
Foodsafe is one of those words we keep bumping into. What does it mean, exactly? Well, we’re pretty certain there is an official international standard, complete with a number of specifications, but basically it means you can use the produce for purposes of human consumption. You can eat with it. “But it’s just plastic… Continue reading Foodsafe 3D Printing
More on the 3DTouch 3D Printer
After yesterday’s announcement from 3D Systems / BFB on their new 3DTouch printer, we sought additional details. Today we’ve learned a few more things about this very interesting device, including why it’s called the “3DTouch”. Check out the much more detailed image above (click for larger view). Here’s our latest findings: The “touch”… Continue reading More on the 3DTouch 3D Printer
The Hamburger Shoe
People always get excited about 3D printed food in spite of the fact there are precious few ways to do so. While we await the development of a consumer food printer, others continue to experiment. Shapeways reports on a great experiment in which their member Tristan Bethe 3D scanned his shoe, 3D printed a slightly… Continue reading The Hamburger Shoe
3D Systems Acquires … Jim!
Jim Smith of Grass Roots Engineering has been working on 3D printing technology for quite a while, building such amazing machines as shown in the image at left. But now he’s made a big announcement: Since I started this website in December 2010, it has received a lot of attention, especially from my NPR… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires … Jim!
Shapeways Reveals Production Status
3D print service Shapeways has grown much in the past few years. Now they’re so large it’s hard to keep track of all their materials offerings let alone their production status. But now you can see exactly what’s going on by checking out their brand new “Material Production Status” page. On this page you’ll… Continue reading Shapeways Reveals Production Status
3D Printing’s Rule 34
Charles Stross’s latest science fiction novel, Rule 34, includes a whole lot of deep thinking on the implications of widespread 3D printing. We’ve discussed some of these issues before, but Stross’s novel proposes another more aggressive solution: forbidden shapes. In other words, 3D printers could be rigged to detect and prevent the production of certain… Continue reading 3D Printing’s Rule 34
Does 3D Printing Follow Moore’s Law?
Computer geeks are all familiar with Moore’s law, which posits the idea that the number of transistors practically placed on a chip doubles every two years. Of course, more transistors means more power – and that’s exactly what we see: cheaper, more powerful computers every year. Johnny Ryan wonders whether a similar law (maybe… Continue reading Does 3D Printing Follow Moore’s Law?
MakerBot’s $10M Challenge
MakerBot chief Bre Pettis made a very big announcement yesterday: They’re taking in the staggering amount of USD$10M in a special investment round! The sixteen listed investors, led by Foundry Group, obviously have huge confidence in MakerBot’s future. MakerBot has come a very long way from their modest start in early 2009, growing to… Continue reading MakerBot’s $10M Challenge
More on the 3D Systems’ BotMill Acquisition
We were a tiny bit surprised last week when we learned that up and coming 3D printer manufacturer and marketer BotMill was snapped up by industry giant 3D Systems. At the time there was not a lot of information available about this move, so we contacted 3D Systems VP of Global Marketing to clarify the… Continue reading More on the 3D Systems’ BotMill Acquisition
Faberdashery Sells PLA With a Twist
A new service for 3D printer owners has emerged: Faberdashery. They sell plastic filament that’s suitable for use in several types of popular 3D printers, including MakerBot, Bits From Bytes, Ultimaker and the many variants of RepRap. The difference at Faberdashery, beyond their broad color selection and exclusive sales of PLA, is that they… Continue reading Faberdashery Sells PLA With a Twist
A Visit to the ITC
You’re looking at a picture of Stephen McKendry-Smith of Manitoba’s Industrial Technology Centre. This organization is a government-funded operation dedicated to economic development, particularly in the use of new technologies such as 3D printing. The ITC now has a Dimension SST1200es onsite that they use to demonstrate 3D printing concepts and technology to interested… Continue reading A Visit to the ITC
HP 3D Printing Update
At the recent Plastics Design and Moulding show in London, Fabbaloo caught up with Eric Erickson, HP’s Product Manager for their Designjet 3D printers. It’s been over a year since it was announced HP would market 3D printers through an agreement with Stratasys. How well has business been over that period? Has HP found this… Continue reading HP 3D Printing Update
Neurosurgeons Are 3D Printing
There’s nothing like being able to hold something in your hand and inspect it. You can look from all angles close or far and can use your sense of touch to aid in understanding completely what you’ve got. That’s exactly the approach Hawaiian neurosurgeons at the Tripler Army Medical Centre are taking. They’re able… Continue reading Neurosurgeons Are 3D Printing
Hands On With The BFB 3000: Software
We’re continuing to evaluate the BFB 3000 3D printer, this time we’re focusing on the software experience. Previously we’ve looked at the unboxing and setup as well as its operation. Why focus on the software? Isn’t this all about the printer itself? We believe the entire experience is important, from end to end. And… Continue reading Hands On With The BFB 3000: Software
MyBestFit Could Be MyOwnScan?
There’s an interesting problem with women’s clothes: the sizes are inconsistent between brands, leading to a lot of experimentation before the right item is selected. However, MyBestFit now offers (at least in some major USA malls at high-end shops) a 21st century solution. They take a quick 3D scan of the buyer, similar to what… Continue reading MyBestFit Could Be MyOwnScan?
Hands On With The BFB 3000: Operation
In last week’s post we described the unboxing and set up of the BFB 3000 printer, which turned out to be a pretty good experience. Today we’re discussing the operation of the 3000. If you’re like us and have a dose of shiny object syndrome, you’ll definitely like the 3000. It’s a beauty to… Continue reading Hands On With The BFB 3000: Operation
Hands On With The BFB 3000: Unboxing and Setup
Fabbaloo Labs has obtained a brand-new, two-headed BFB 3000 3D printer for detailed experimentation and evaluation. We’ll talk about our unboxing and setup experience in this post, while upcoming posts will focus on the 3000’s operation and software. The BFB 3000 ships in a rather large 38kg box. It’s large for one obvious reason:… Continue reading Hands On With The BFB 3000: Unboxing and Setup
The 2Bot ModelMaker
It’s not exactly a 3D printer, but more of a 3D cutter. The 2Bot ModelMaker is intended for architects and students to print 3D representations of landscapes, layouts and terrain. From what we see, it appears to be a 50lb computer controlled drill that traverses an inexpensive 12″ x 12″ x 2″ foam board,… Continue reading The 2Bot ModelMaker
This Week’s 3D Systems Acquisition Is . . .
Print3D Corporation! They’ve been acquired by industry giant 3D Systems, who are now even giganticker. But what exactly does Print3D do? They are an industrial 3D printing parts service with a unique capability: they have a plug-in for CAD software to provide additional 3D printing features. Here’s what their plug-in does: The Print3D… Continue reading This Week’s 3D Systems Acquisition Is . . .
SYCODE Added to 3D Systems Empire
In an interesting move this week, 3D printing giant 3D Systems acquired SYCODE – a software company. Recently 3DS has been swallowing up hardware makers and service companies, but now they turn to the software world. What exactly does the Goa, India-based SYCODE company make? They offer a very wide breadth of plugin modules… Continue reading SYCODE Added to 3D Systems Empire
Sketch to 3D Makes Modeling Easy
It’s always been a challenge to get the right models for printing. You may get lucky and find what you want in a freebie repository; you might find it for sale in a 3D print service’s library, or you might have to resort to designing the object yourself with a 3D modelling tool – if… Continue reading Sketch to 3D Makes Modeling Easy
Dam Building With a 3D Printer
Of course you can’t *actually* build a dam with a 3D printer. Not yet, anyway. But for now you can build rather nice models of them – and that’s just what Marco Giubelli did with his RapMan 3D printer for his client. The model is of a proposed hydro-electric water storage dam on Lago… Continue reading Dam Building With a 3D Printer
3D Buried Treasure
Seattle’s Matt Westervelt contacted us to explain a new initiative being undertaken by Metrix Create:Space. They’re concerned with the skills required to successfully perform powder-based 3D printing. According to Matt: 3D powder-based printing is more than designing something digitally and pulling it out of a machine. There is skill involved in removing the excess… Continue reading 3D Buried Treasure
3D Print a Kindle!
Not exactly, but it’s surprisingly close to printing a Kindle. Maker Stergios Stergiou has designed a combination case and magnifier that blows up an iPhone 4 screen to 6 inches in size – approximately the same size as an actual Kindle. This makes it much easier to read eBooks, for example. The device, called… Continue reading 3D Print a Kindle!
Shapeways Finances Exposed
Some detective work by Joris Peels of i.Materialise has revealed interesting facts regarding 3D print service Shapeways. Recognized as one of the industry leaders in print service, we (and others) have wondered about the success of their expanding business. Peels reports that in an interview with Netherlands website Sprout, Shapeways CEO Peter Weijmarshausen reveals some… Continue reading Shapeways Finances Exposed
The Gada Prize
We’ve seen tremendous achievements in recent years through the excitement generated by a series of startling X-prize challenges. Now there’s one addressing 3D printing, specifically the RepRap project. The Gada prize, to be awarded to a winning team on January 1st, 2013, intends on dramatically improving the capability of open source 3D printing. Some USD$20,000… Continue reading The Gada Prize
Stratasys Prints A Car!
Well, not exactly an *entire car* – but just its body. The Urbee was an entrant to Progressive Insurance’s Automotive X-Prize. The competition has now closed and Urbee ended up ranked “in the top 30 in the world” according to a recent press release. What’s so interesting about this to us? The car’s body, including… Continue reading Stratasys Prints A Car!
Hot Ice For Support Material?
What’s “Hot Ice”, you ask? It’s not exactly water, as you might suspect. Instead it’s a totally bizarre liquid-to-solid material that just might be useful for 3D printing as support material. This mysterious substance is very simply produced: mix sodium acetate crystals with water, and cool. The result is a clear liquid that appears to… Continue reading Hot Ice For Support Material?
Objet is Certified
Objet Geometries, makers of the powerful Alaris, Eden and Connex lines of commercial 3D printers just announced they’ve managed to receive ISO 13485:2003 certification. This certification means Objet is now able to deliver various types of 3D printing equipment into a wide variety of medical roles. We’ve seen Objet dabble in dental before but this… Continue reading Objet is Certified
The Tribulations of Printing 3D Models
You’ve read yesterday’s post about where you might find amazing 3D models for printing, but you’re wondering what to do next. Is it as simple as downloading the model and printing it? Not exactly. Here’s some considerations: Are you legally permitted to print this model? What license was it distributed under? Best to check… Continue reading The Tribulations of Printing 3D Models
The Freedom to Print
John of hackable:news complains that whenever they show off their 3D printer, viewers inevitably ask: “Could you print me this, could you print me that”. They just don’t realize how difficult it can be to produce a 3D object. Unless the exact object model is readily available (and findable) within a repository like Thingiverse or… Continue reading The Freedom to Print
3D Gem Holders
Scott Elliot of the SD300 blog came up with a great idea: print Gem holders for homemade gemstones. Well, not exactly homemade, but home-etched. You see, he happens to have a C02 laser with which he’s able to engrave tiny patterns onto the gemstones. He’s discovered the best results are obtained from engraving “lab grown… Continue reading 3D Gem Holders
3D Print an ATM Skimmer!
Attention Criminals: you’d better buy your own 3D printer; DO NOT use a 3D printing service to build parts for your bank job, or you’ll be apprehended. That’s exactly what happened at 3D printing service i.Materialise, whose sharp-eyed operators managed to catch what appeared to be the card slot of an ATM being printed!… Continue reading 3D Print an ATM Skimmer!
A Very Solido Blog
There are many personal blogs detailing adventures with one’s MakerBot or RepRap, but what about a personal Solido SD300 3D printer? That’s exactly what Scott Elliot does on his blog. The SD300 uses dry PVC sheets as its build material, fusing them together layer by layer. However: Since the SD300 builds models inside a… Continue reading A Very Solido Blog
Shapeways Goes For Gold. And Bronze.
It’s not exactly the Olympics, but Shapeways can now print in Gold and Bronze finishes thanks to their most recent announcement. They’ve added more finishings one can select for stainless steel prints. In addition to the existing Gold Plate Matte finish, you can now choose from: Gold Plated Glossy (on the left above) Antique… Continue reading Shapeways Goes For Gold. And Bronze.
Print Some Legs and Make Them Whole Again
One of the most interesting applications of 3D printing is medical uses. We’ve written about many different medical applications, ranging from printed tissue, to replacement bones. Today we ran across Alison Lewis’s wonderful post describing her experience encountering custom printed prosthetics for amputees. The procedure was to scan the patient’s surviving leg and through… Continue reading Print Some Legs and Make Them Whole Again
Breeding RepRaps
The premise behind the RepRap project is to build a machine that can reproduce itself. While it’s not quite able to accomplish that task entirely, it can produce a great many of its own parts. That’s exactly what’s going on at the University of Washington, where they seem to have set up a “RepRap… Continue reading Breeding RepRaps
Visiting a FabLab
There’s a great photojourney of a visit through Aachen’s FabLab at lekernel’s scrapbook, including images of their 3D printer, laser cutter and milling machine. What exactly is a “FabLab”? Here’s the Wikipedia definition: A Fab Lab (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale workshop with an array of computer controlled tools that cover several different length… Continue reading Visiting a FabLab
The Quirky Case of Objet Technologies
In an unusual example of Web2.0 colliding head-on with 3D Printing, Objet announced they’ve sold a Connex 350 3D printer to social product developer Quirky. Wait a moment, you ask, what exactly is a “social product developer”? The Quirky answer is a startup company that accepts ideas from the public and produces new products.… Continue reading The Quirky Case of Objet Technologies
3D Printing Solves The Innovator’s Dilemma?
In the classic business book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, author Clayton M. Christensen describes a scenario which happens all to often in large companies: Inventive staff come up with a new way to produce the product Management is not interested in backing the new way because even if it succeeded, the amount of revenue is… Continue reading 3D Printing Solves The Innovator’s Dilemma?
Printing the Moon
We saw a few posts recently proposing to use the D-Shape outdoor printer to be modified for printing a lunar base. That’s an enticing and challenging possibility, but why not print the Moon on Earth while we await real lunar exploration? That’s exactly what space enthusiast Howard Fink did, as you can see in the… Continue reading Printing the Moon
The Doctor is In at Shapeways
That’s him in the image, Doctor Shapeways! Well, not exactly. Always an innovator, Shapeways has released another terrific feature for those submitting 3D models to their printing service: MeshMedic. MeshMedic automatically corrects very common mistakes made in 3D models that render the model unprintable. While the model might look tremendously beautiful on your 24… Continue reading The Doctor is In at Shapeways
Changing Prosthetics Forever
Daniel Terdiman of CNET news writes a long article describing how 3D printing is “changing prosthetics forever”. We’ve written several articles in this area over the past two years, and now it’s become visible in CNET. Terdiman explains how the combination of amputee soldiers’ needs, 3D scanning, 3D printing and individual manufacturing have opened… Continue reading Changing Prosthetics Forever
Seth Godin’s Vision
We read Seth Godin’s posts often, and recently completed his latest book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?. In the book Godin proposes that the industrial model that we’ve lived with for some 250 years is drawing to a close. With painful accuracy, he describes the fruitless struggles and frustrations many people face at work in the… Continue reading Seth Godin’s Vision
Commercial Bioprinting Available Now
Invetech announced the availability of a commercial 3D Bioprinter. It’s being distributed by Organovo to research institutions around the world. What’s a Bioprinter? It’s essentially a 3D printer that deposits living cells according to a 3D model to form actual living tissue that can potentially be used inside living organisms. Typically a scaffold is used… Continue reading Commercial Bioprinting Available Now
ZCorp Goes Monochrome!
If the motion picture industry changed from color to black and white, we’d be concerned. The same would be true for ZCorp if they dropped their color technology and retreated to “monochrome” mode for their line of 3D printers. That’s not exactly what’s going on here: they’ve announced a new Monochrome 3D printer. Sounds strange,… Continue reading ZCorp Goes Monochrome!
2.1D Printing with Roland’s VersaUV
It’s not exactly a 3D printer, but we’d call it a “2.1D” printer. Basically it’s an inkjet printer equipped with UV-hardened “ink” that can produce a raised effect on the 2D printouts. Another way to look at it is that the VersaUV LEC-300 is a 3D printer with a Z-axis of only 0.04mm. The… Continue reading 2.1D Printing with Roland’s VersaUV
Human Brain!
Admit it: you did something wrong sometime in your life and someone told you: “Get a brain!” Well, now you can! A recent .STL upload to the Thingiverse model repository does just that. It’s a 3D model of an actual human brain! Now before you speculate on exactly *how* Jordan Miller obtained this anatomical… Continue reading Human Brain!
ZBrush 3DPrintExporter
Another really useful plugin has emerged for the popular and powerful ZBrush digital sculpting program. The new 3DPrintExporter does exactly that: it prepares a properly formatted .STL file quite suitable for transfer to any 3D printer or 3D print service that accepts .STL (which is pretty much all of them.) The proper preparation of… Continue reading ZBrush 3DPrintExporter
DIY Car Manufacturing?
Bob McCarty predicts that: within the next 10 years, begin designing and manufacturing their very own vehicles using in-home three-dimensional printing systems, services and consumables. That’s a tall order, given that a 3D printing is still a toddler among technologies. We suspect it may eventually come to the point he describes, but it might… Continue reading DIY Car Manufacturing?
How Small Are Your Fingers?
Ours are not exactly small, and therefore we’ll probably not be able to handle what’s being called “the world’s smallest cube puzzle”. It’s available at ShapeWays right now. It’s a classic 3D puzzle with tetris-like 3D shapes. The only catch is that they are really tiny, with the maximum dimension being only 7.5mm! Fortunately,… Continue reading How Small Are Your Fingers?
Reformat Your Shopping
Portfolio.com speculates about the future of mass customization in a recent post examining the footwear industry. The idea is that although people may like a product’s function, they may desire certain superficial changes, such as color or texture. Traditionally we’ve unconsciously accepted the lack of choice when we’re staring at the display case in Wal-Mart… Continue reading Reformat Your Shopping
Two Routes to Low Cost
Fluid Forms poses an interesting question: how to obtain an inexpensive 3D printer. They correctly point out the two possible courses of action for obtaining inexpensive 3D printing solutions: Commercial units, such as the Desktop Factory and MCOR printers. Open Source hardware solutions such as RepRap, Fab@Home and the recently announced MakerBot The problem,… Continue reading Two Routes to Low Cost
Sony Ericsson’s 3D Printing Habits
It seems there are new mobile phones every day, but exactly where do these new designs come from? The SolidWorks APAC Blog posts an interesting article and video of how Sony Ericcson design engineers come up with unique designs. Evidently 3D printing permits the designers to punch out a physical prototype very early in… Continue reading Sony Ericsson’s 3D Printing Habits
You Can Put Spares In Your Pocket!
New Scientist reports on a medical breakthrough using 3D printing: exact replicas of finger bones have been produced. Christian Weinand of Berne Switzerland has been testing a new technique in which a 3D model of a finger bone is fed into a 3D printer, and an exact duplicate is printed. By using a suitable print… Continue reading You Can Put Spares In Your Pocket!
Open Manufacturing
Reader Bryan Bishop points us to a new initiative: “Open Manufacturing”, which at the moment appears to be a watering hole for discussions about how to supercharge our space. Now then, exactly how would that be done? Their tagline: Open Manufacturing is about bringing free and open source software development methodology and philosophy to… Continue reading Open Manufacturing
ZScanner
ZCorp, the makers of that very popular line of 3D Printers, does more than just that – they also make 3D scanners. While the ZScanners are not exactly newly announced, we still think they’re worthy of discussion. It fascinates us how one could wander through the real world with a handheld device (and laptop… Continue reading ZScanner
CBC Covers 3D Printing
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s government-owned media network, recently posted an article introducing the 3D Printing concept to its readers (mainly Canadians, we suppose.) This continues a trend of mainstream media gradually bumping into our tech space, and relating it to the public. The highlights of this article: The inevitable comparison of the technology to… Continue reading CBC Covers 3D Printing
Easton Predicts A Consumer Manufacturing Future
Tom Easton, Professor of Science at the Thomas College in Maine has just released a PDF of an interesting article he’s written for The Futurist magazine. Easton suggests that the combination of low-cost 3D printing technology and new business approaches triggered by commonly available internet connectivity will result in a new world for consumers. Gone… Continue reading Easton Predicts A Consumer Manufacturing Future
Digital Stone Rises in China
We’ve seen examples of interesting uses previously, and here’s another one. Four sculptors were to build exhibits for the Digital Stone Exhibition in China. The purpose of the exhibition was to demonstrate the links between the 21st century digital world and traditional stone carving techniques. Western artists first produced some 20 3D models, “Digitally Sculpting”.… Continue reading Digital Stone Rises in China
World’s First Consumer 3D Camera – And it Prints, Too!
Before you get too excited, it’s not what Fabbaloo readers might expect or want. Yes, the camera, pictured above, will indeed take 3D pictures as it clearly includes stereoscopic capability. And it (or an associated printer) will produce “3D Prints”. But they are actually 2D prints that merely look 3D, like holograms. According to the… Continue reading World’s First Consumer 3D Camera – And it Prints, Too!
ModelMakers Doomed?
An interesting thread at pushpullbar.com debates the future of professional architectural modelmakers. These are the guys that take the blueprints or designs from the architects and create miniature 3D representations in cardboard or other materials. The proposition posed by poster Curlz says: As a current student of a modelmaking degree and hoping to get a… Continue reading ModelMakers Doomed?
Mouse Brains
We don’t know about you, but if we received a 3D Mouse Brain as an anniversary present, we’d be pleasantly surprised. That’s exactly what happened when LiveJournal blogger Molliebatmit opened her first anniversary present. She writes: And yesterday, Adam came home with my anniversary gift. Now, some people might get a necklace or a pair… Continue reading Mouse Brains
Is a 3D Print High Quality?
Many who encounter 3D printing initially react badly when they realize that the print resolution on today’s 3D printers is not so great. For fine details, the capability just isn’t yet there, at least with the lower cost 3D printers and services. However, that does not mean 3D printing is unusable. You simply… Continue reading Is a 3D Print High Quality?
3D PreFab Home
It’s not a home, exactly, but at least some components of a prototype home of the future were manufactured on a Z-Corp 3D printer for the “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. According to DesignNews on wall: has been fabricated from a… Continue reading 3D PreFab Home
Yahoo! There’s a 3D Yahoo Group!
Exactly – on 22 July a new group was founded on Yahoo Tech Groups. Here’s the description: Moderated group forum for sharing details concerning homebrew 3D printers. Discussion of all aspects of the mechanical, electronic, and software design of your 3D printing system as well as your results is encouraged! The idea here… Continue reading Yahoo! There’s a 3D Yahoo Group!
The Tooth Fabber
This one is so obvious we didn’t even think of it until mjarkiver wrote up his recent experience at the dentist. We’ve all been there before, where a section of a tooth is to be replaced. Typically, the remaining surface on the tooth is prepped by leveling and smoothing. Then a mold is obtained by… Continue reading The Tooth Fabber
Alternative to TechShop?
TechShop is a very popular service for skilled manufacturing hobbyists who just don’t have the space or funds to own their own 21st century fabbing equipment. TechShop addresses their needs by planting multiple well-equipped shops in various cities. But are they the only option? Fabbaloo has identified a potential competitor: eMachineShop. Well, not exactly.… Continue reading Alternative to TechShop?
Elastic Fabric
Strange things continue to appear at the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit in New York City. This time someone has posted pictures of textiles apparently made on a 3D printer. Unfortunately, the image comes with few (well, no) details, so we can only speculate how this was done. Perhaps using a unique type of… Continue reading Elastic Fabric
Independent 3D Printing
No, this isn’t about a fabbulous new way to print 3D objects. It’s about the popular news service, “The Independent”, who have just published an introductory story on 3D printing. The piece is intended to tell general readers about this new technology and how it may affect our lives profoundly: The extraordinary thing about this… Continue reading Independent 3D Printing
3D Scanner from NextEngine
We’ve discussed the idea of having large libraries of 3D models in the future, so that we can quickly print out any required object. But where exactly do these models come from? There are only two possibilities: Design it yourself. Obviously difficult, especially if you don’t have specialized training and a whole lot of… Continue reading 3D Scanner from NextEngine
Printing Tissue by Ink-Jet
It’s not exactly Fabbing as we know it, but the World Intellectual Property Organization now includes an entry on printing live tissue. Yes, I mean punching out “mammalian cells” via an ink-jet process. Evidently the cells are deposited in layers, much like 3D printing, onto an existing substrate. In some cases the substrate is itself… Continue reading Printing Tissue by Ink-Jet
.STL ?
Frequently we’ve mentioned the use of .STL files when describing 3D printing services. But what are they, exactly? .STL is a computer file format, specifically designed to capture a three-dimensional model of an object. This kind of file format is frequently accepted by 3D print services as a way for you to tell them precisely… Continue reading .STL ?